ISIL oil smugglers trapped as Russian bombs rain down

By

nine.com.au staff

Russian bombers have conducted deadly raids on thousands of trucks believed to be smuggling illegal oil for ISIL over the Iraq-Turkey border on the same day a Syrian rebel chief was killed in similar air strikes.

An estimated 12,000 heavy-duty trucks were seen backed up on both sides of the Zakho checkpoint, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq bordering Turkey, according to aerial footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry.

With the threat of an impending attack, hundreds of drivers can be seen frantically trying to flee to safety or abandon their trucks as bombs rain down.

Many tankers lie destroyed, smoke and flames billowing out.

The Russian Air Force is estimated to have destroyed more than 2000 tankers used by ISIL for smuggling oil since starting a bombing campaign in late September.

The crippling effect of the raids has forced ISIL to disguise their trucks, as well as transport cargo mainly at night, Russia Today reports.

The terrifying footage has emerged the same day Syrian rebel chief Zahran Alloush was killed in an air strike, damaging the almost five-year uprising and a fragile peace process to end the Syrian civil war.

Mr Alloush, 44, was the commander of the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) movement, the predominant opposition faction in the Eastern Ghouta rebel bastion east of capital Damascus.

It is unclear if Syrian Army or Russian forces were responsible for the attack.

His death "stands as one of the most significant opposition losses" of Syria's nearly five-year uprising, analyst Charles Lister said on Twitter.

His absence could affect a peace process aimed at negotiating a political solution to Syria's war, which began in 2011 and in which more than 250,000 people have died.

"In a way, Zahran Alloush has been the rare successful centraliser in the Syrian rebel movement," Aron Lund, editor of analysis website Syria in Crisis, said.